In most types of sports, such as football, track, soccer and the like, the athletes are subject to injuries of varying degrees of seriousness, from pulled muscles to broken bones or concussions. In all cases where trauma has occurred, athletic trainers and doctors are agreed that even a mild injury can be seriously aggravated by the athlete's attempting to walk off of the field, either alone or escorted. Even a pulled muscle for a track athlete can be seriously aggravated by walking or limping, thereby causing further damage and increasing materially his recovery time. It is further agreed among these experts that the injured player should be substantially immobilized in, for example, a fixed position while being removed from the field of play.
Heretofore, where a player has been injured, as in a football game, for example, generally he is encouraged to walk off of the field, usually with the help of other players or trainers. Where the trauma is more serious, a stretcher or litter, or a gurney, which is simply a wheeled stretcher, is used to transport the player off of the field. In the case of the stretcher or litter, several people are required to transport it, and, where the player is large, a common occurrence among football players, transporting him while keeping him on the litter is difficult. In the case of the gurney, the player must lie prone thereon, and generally must be held in place such as by strapping to prevent his rolling or falling off. This is especially true if, as is often the case, the gurney has a high center of gravity, which tends to make it unstable.
In addition to the foregoing, it is generally agreed among experts in the athletic trauma field that there is an optimum position or attitude that the injured party should be in while being transported, and the prone position, which is common to litters, stretchers, and gurneys is actually undesirable in most cases and for most types of trauma.